DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu – HBK DVD Review + HBK’s Retirement?

THE WRESTLING MENU #282

Welcome one and all to the 282nd edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

I think it has been almost a year since I last served up a DVD Review for you all and while they are not always my most popular columns, I do often get thanks from readers who have made purchasing decisions partially based on my reviews. Time has clearly been a major issue for me here (especially since most worthwhile WWE DVD’s nowadays are 3 discs & 9 hours long), but with a weekend or two spare of late, I have been able to get through the relatively new Shawn Michaels 3 disc set. And today obviously sees the first part of my review of that particular release, before it concludes in my next column.

Furthermore, for those looking for something other than a DVD review, I will use the ‘Dessert’ section of today’s column to speak briefly about a possible upcoming retirement for Shawn Michaels.

Before I get started, I have another little update on the Canadian prize situation that I have discussed briefly over the past 2 weeks. ‘Wrestling Menu’ reader James sends word that one of the main reasons why the law was established was for taxation purposes. Apparently, if something is earned, as opposed to won, the taxation rate is significantly reduced. Who said Canadians weren’t a clever bunch!?!?!?

On with the show-stopping show…..

‘SHAWN MICHAELS’ DVD REVIEW

As already insinuated, this is a 3 disc set & its full title is ‘The Shawn Michaels Story: Heartbreak & Triumph’. As per usual with most WWE DVDs, it has a documentary portion which lasts 123 minutes (containing over 30 chapters), some non-match extras (including stories, deleted scenes & promos), as well as a number of matches which are shown in full. And yes, there are even some Easter Eggs for those with a keen eye (or a printed out version of my review).

APPETIZERS – Documentary

The documentary portion of this DVD opens with the usual childhood reflections by his parents. Shawn got drawn into watching wrestling at approximately 12 years of age and often attended local wrestling shows (to the dismay of his parents) with a friend. The 2 also emulated their heroes everywhere from in their pool to their school gym & football field. Michaels started college, but it wasn’t for him & he eventually talked his dad into letting him train & work for SouthWest Championship Wrestling. It wasn’t long later that he then moved to the larger Mid-South territory where he worked predominantly as a jobber, but at least it was against some of the best wrestlers in the country.

The next territory Shawn worked was in Kansas City and this was where he met eventual longtime tag-team partner Marty Jannetty. In 1986, the team hit AWA as The Midnight Rockers and many current & former stars put over how fast, entertaining & ahead-of-their-time the team was as they took double-teaming to a new level. The 2 soon became #1 contenders and eventually feuded with champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers for almost a year before winning the titles.

Pat Patterson was the WWE employee who was eventually won over by Shawn & Marty, so he brought them across to the east coast. Unfortunately, the stay was extremely short as a Jimmy Jack Funk backstage story got out of hand and Vince McMahon fired the 2 new guys. This caused Shawn’s life to spiral downwards and he admits that he began taking drugs and even contemplated suicide. Kicking around the independents, The Midnight Rockers knew there was only one place to make it big, so they went through the proper channels & soon ended up back in the WWF. The likes of Chris Jericho, Triple H & Arn Anderson explain how exciting the now named Rockers were and how good a feud with The Brainbusters (Anderson & Tully Blanchard) turned out. Shawn & Marty were soon booked to win the titles over The Hart Foundation, but the top-rope broke during the bout & Vince eventually pretended as if the match did not take place.

We next see the infamous Barber Shop segment where Shawn turned heel on Marty in what was still to this day one of the best heel turns of all time. Pat Patterson then had the idea to pair Sensational Sherri with him, an idea Michaels did not like at all initially. But he now sees that it was a stroke of genius that propelled him to new heights. The 2 soon began playing with their characters and The Heartbreak Kid moniker was born! After consolidating his midcard position, HBK won the InterContinental Title in November 1992 from Davey Boy Smith. To consolidate his position even further, Shawn had the idea to bring in Kevin Nash (then working in WCW as Vinnie Vegas) as his bodyguard. Unfortunately, Michaels soon failed a drug test & was suspended, but Shawn’s ego did not allow him to return the IC Tile to Vince. Razor Ramon won a tournament (& different IC Title belt) and upon Shawn’s return, the 2 had their classic ladder match at WrestleMania 10, which we see highlights of.

The next chapter speaks on the backstage group known as The Clique (HBK, Razor, Diesel, Triple H & 1-2-3 Kid). They were close friends in real life & began causing some trouble for the company. But they were all top stars so what could WWF do? During this period, Shawn got beat up at a bar which ultimately resulted in a concussion angle being played out on air to give him some time off. Upon return, he won The Royal Rumble leading up to the infamous WrestleMania 12 Iron Man match where Michaels defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF Championship. Of course, things were about to change big time in the professional wrestling industry as Kevin Nash & Scott Hall were about to spearhead a defection to WCW. This resulted in the infamous Curtain Call incident at a Madison Square Garden house show, which resulted in Triple H being penalized by Vince McMahon with a demotion.

Following a look at Shawn’s proud moment of wrestling at the recently opened AlamoDome in his hometown of San Antonio, we take a look at the controversial period where a knee injury apparently resulted in HBK forfeiting the title after the infamous “I lost my smile” speech. Of course, the rumor was that Michaels did not want to drop the title back to Bret Hart. Michaels neither confirms or denies this rumor on this DVD. Upon return, HBK wrestled the first ever Hell In A Cell match against The Undertaker and we see highlights of some of the big spots from that match here.

WCW was now beating the WWF in the television ratings and Shawn’s idea to kick-start his company back to the top was the formation of D-Generation X (initially Shawn, Triple H, Chyna & Rick Rude). Vince & JR suggest that DX were almost uncontrollable at the time and the USA network were receiving public complaints due to what they were doing on-screen. This only fueled DX’s fire and they took their antics to new levels, which eventually won over the fans and finally Vince McMahon.

If there was anything more controversial than DX, then it had to be the infamous Montreal Screwjob. I won’t go over the facts here as every wrestling fan should already know about it by now. It is thankfully well covered here and a few extra facts are made clearer on this DVD. Man, I still clearly remember watching that show live and rewinding the videotape back over & over again to see what exactly had occurred. Anyway, moving on, Michaels did not hold the title much longer due to a back injury sustained during a Casket Match against The Undertaker at The Royal Rumble. This resulted in his eventual defeat to ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin at WrestleMania 14 when Mike Tyson basically turned on HBK.

Shawn struggled without life at the top and he once more turned to drugs. Even when he found love and married WCW Nitro Girl Whisper and had a child with her, he continued to take drugs to a dangerous extent. At this stage, Shawn and his wife tell a story of the incident at home that made him take stock of his life. His wife got him into bible study and the rest was history as Michaels became a born-again Christian. We even hear from his pastors here!

We then fast-forward to 2002 and Shawn’s amazing return match against Triple H at SummerSlam. He surprised everyone with how good he was in that bout, including himself. A few months later, Michaels took part in the first ever Elimination Chamber match and surprisingly won the World Title, something he never thought possible over the last few years. But there were even more great matches to come and one of them was the ‘fan vs idol’ bout against Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 19. It was this bout that finally convinced HBK that he could return to WWE on a full-time basis.

The next thing on Shawn’s ‘To-Do’ list was a feud against the immortal Hulk Hogan. It was a difficult feud to pull off as Vince, Shawn & Bruce Prichard suggest it was always difficult to find the correct balance of heel & face in Shawn’s character at the time. We see clips of the hilarious “Brother, Brother, Brother” Larry King segment and then hear how the Hulkster was really not liking all that was going on behind the scenes and would not lose to Michaels in their eventual match-up. Onwards & upwards Shawn went and come WrestleMania 22 his opponent would be none other than his boss Vince McMahon. Many in-the-know commend Michaels here for how good of a match he got out of a 62 year old non-wrestler. Of course, it ultimately resulted in the silly God feud, which even HBK failed to save!

2006 also saw the return of D-Generation X and their trademark brand of immature humor. Of course, this was always going to be difficult for Shawn, since he was now very religious. The return was hit & miss but very popular, as JR & Jericho suggest it really could be drawn on any time in the future & still be a hit with the fans. Following a look at HBK’s WrestleMania 23 main-event match against John Cena in front of 80,000+ in attendance in Detroit, we close this documentary portion of the DVD by having the likes of Cena, Jericho, Triple H, JR & Vince discuss how good Shawn Michaels really has been and whether or not he is in fact the greatest professional wrestler that has ever lived!

ENTREE – Disc-1 Extras

PROMOS

Heartbreak Hotel – Raw (April-4 1994): The 3 minute debut of Shawn’s Heartbreak Hotel interview segment where he & Diesel pretty much introduce the segment and then waffle on about Razor Ramon.

Tell Me A Lie Music Video: This was the sappy music video highlighting some of HBK’s career achievements that WWE played over & over again whenever Shawn took an extended break from the ring. 3 minutes in length.

Larry King Spoof – Raw (August-1 2005): The full 8 minute segment shown on Raw where Shawn impersonates Hulk Hogan hilariously on The Larry King Show. Pure gold and obviously a bit close to home for Hogan in real life. It also includes a great little HBK highlights package and Hogan feud recap.

DELETED SCENES

Wrestling Academy: Following back surgery, Michaels trained a group of wrestlers for a couple of years. The batch included Brian Kendrick, Lance Cade & Bryan Danielson. 2 minutes in length and probably should have been included on the documentary proper.

Bible Teacher: 2 minutes worth of extra information regarding Shawn’s religion and work with teenagers at his church.

Colorado Expedition: A further extension of Shawn’s religious mentoring saw him take a few teenage boys on a 10 day mountain climb. 2 minutes in length.

Who’s The Greatest Wrestler?: Another segment that should have been on the documentary proper, this DVD Extra documents Shawn’s WrestleMania 21 match against Kurt Angle. A fantastic match, many highlights are shown and it is stressed by many, including Shawn himself, that HBK really felt like he had to step up on the night and that was very much what he did. 4 minutes in length.

STORIES

High School Prankster: A 1 minute long story told by his mother regarding Shawn’s stealing of an opposition sign & getting ID’d by his jersey number that he was wearing!

High School Talent Show: Told by his friend, this is a 2 minute story detailing the wrestling match Shawn put on for his senior year talent show.

Letter Jacket: A rather boring 2 minute story told by Shawn regarding how he gained a letter jacket & used it to his advantage.

Mom’s Approval: An amusing story contributed to by Shawn’s mother & Marty Jannetty detailing some of the outfits The Rockers used to wear & how HBK used to always call his mother for approval.

The Bruise: An extension of a chapter on the documentary proper, Marty tells a story of how The Rockers once bruised themselves by constantly rubbing a towel on their face. It was eventually for no reason as the angle was not used. 2 minutes in length.

The Rockers Fight: A fascinating little-known story told by Marty who claims that ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper once provoked The Rockers into a fight against each other that was so bad that the police got called in. Thankfully, ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage smoothed things over with the police, explaining it away as rehearsing for a match. HBK almost quit after this incident & Marty calls it the beginning of the end for the tag-team. 3 minutes in length.

This Is A Little Higher Than I Thought: Shawn recounts the WrestleMania streetfight against Vince and how HBK did not want the 16 foot ladder used, yet that was what happened to be placed under the ring during the bout.

Brown Pants: Triple H & Chris Jericho amusingly tell the story of how they lied to HBK that his brown tights looked good at Survivor Series 2002.

MAIN – Disc-2 Matches

SHAWN MICHAELS vs BILLY (JACK) HAYNES (WCCW. January 11, 1985): Shawn is actually introduced as “Sean Nichol” and “from Georgia” here, while there was no ‘Jack’ when “Billy Haynes” was introduced. Michaels is playing the show-boating heel in this early bout and when he pulls off a moonsault for no reason at all, Haynes locks him up in his trademark full-nelson and it’s all over prior to the 2 minute mark. Short squash match which was a decent early look at Michaels I suppose. Match Rating… 3

THE MIDNIGHT ROCKERS vs BUDDY ROSE & DOUG SOMERS (AWA. February 10, 1987): After almost a year of The Rockers chasing the tag champs, they finally win the titles here in this bout. Lots of stalling by the heel champs initially, predominantly to increase the incredible heat they received at the time. Shawn is then way too quick for both opponents, as the challengers dazzle the crowd with their speed & high-flying double-teaming. It isn’t long until the heels (along with valet Sherri Martel) use under-handed tactics to gain control though and they methodically pick apart Jannetty with rather standard action. Michaels finally gets tagged in, but his up-tempo flurry of offense is disappointingly brief and it is he who then plays the face-in-peril for minutes on end.

Thankfully, a couple of very good HBK counters leading to 2 counts are sporadically thrown in to keep the fans on the edges of their seat, but for the most part it is all the heel champions. They finally go for the kill with a DDT & pile-driver, but Michaels keeps resiliently kicking out at 2.5. The near-falls come thick & fast and this is almost a version of rope-a-dope. The hot tag eventually comes to Marty and he cleans house. A top-rope double-team maneuver then gets the job done after 20 minutes. Following the amazing series these 2 teams had, this bout was actually a little disappointing (check out ‘From The Vault’ or ‘AWA: Blood On The Sand’ for better bouts). However, this is still pretty solid, if overlong and containing too much heel offense. The pop for the exciting final minute was definitely well-deserved though. Match Rating… 7

THE MIDNIGHT ROCKERS vs SUPER NINJA & NINJA GO (AWA. June 12, 1987): This match was for The Rockers’ AWA TagTitles and the challengers are rather big guys who wear masks that cover all but their eyes. Shawn makes both of them look silly initially as he runs rings around them at an incredibly fast pace. Jannetty continues the face momentum and there is also some crowd-popping double-teaming thrown in there for good measure. It actually is not until about the 8 minute mark where the heel team gets any sort of sustained offense. When they do, it is constant under-handed cheating with the referee struggling to keep control of the 4 participants. The action hardly lets up, with only a sleeper-hold resembling a lengthy resthold.

Following a chaotic sequence at ringside, Michaels begins slapping his partner, which seems to be their version of hulking up! It is enough to allow the hot tag to Shawn who cleans house, eventually leading to some terrific back & forth action, before the faces get the pinfall victory with a double super-kick at the 17 minute mark. Wow… What a secret gem of a bout this was! An interesting structure saw the faces entertainingly dominate for a lot longer than usual, while there was always something involving happening while the heels were in control. Very impressive by all concerned, even though the 2 Japanese didn’t exactly look like solid technicians inside the ring. Match Rating… 8.5

THE ROCKERS vs THE BRAINBUSTERS (WWF. January 23, 1989): This appeared to be a simple Madison Square Garden house show bout and for those unaware, The Brainbusters are Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson. Arn looks incredibly agile in getting his a$$ kicked in the opening minutes of the match, while his cocky veteran heel tactics actually fire The Rockers up to prove themselves. An excellent sequence just short of the 6 minute mark sees the youngsters totally take The Brainbusters by surprise and a succession of moves ends with stereo super-kicks sending the heels to ringside. When the match breaks down soon after, the result is similar as The Rockers excitingly hit drop-kicks to assert their supremacy. The action hardly lets up and it is not until the 9 minute mark when the heels gain control by setting up a ringside trap.

The heel team then writes the manual on cheating to keep control of the offense, but it is thankfully in amongst occasional offensive flurries to keep the action moving. Arn pulls out his huge spine-buster for a 2 count, but Shawn gets the hot tag to Marty soon after, who predictably cleans house. In the ensuing chaos, Marty suplexes Blanchard, but Arn sweeps Jannetty’s leg for a 3 count after 16 minutes. Not too dissimilar to the Ninjas match both in structure & content, this had the added bonus of including the professionals that were Arn & Tully, while also including a slightly better mix of all styles of wrestling. The cheap finish was a little disappointing though. Match Rating… 8.5

THE ROCKERS vs THE HART FOUNDATION (WWF. October 1990): This was the infamous ’2 out of 3 Falls’ match for the Hart’s tag-team titles, where Shawn & Marty won the belts for the first time, only to have the reign ignored & voided due to what occurred during the bout. There is no commentary provided here and in addition to that, this is not helped by the fact that the crowd was pretty quiet for the most part. Bret & Marty begin with some standard back & forth stuff, but the action really hots up when the pace of Michaels meets the strength of The Anvil. The Rockers use some nice double-team moves to simultaneously impress & frustrate the champions, but it isn’t for long as Neidhart gets a 2 count with a power-slam & then Bret gets the same result numerous times over with his usual set-up moves plus a pile-driver. The lack of a successful cover frustrates Bret to no end and as he begins to argue with the referee, Shawn is able to tag out to Jannetty, who ends up countering a sunset-flip for the first pinfall after 9 minutes.

The Harts dominate the action for the opening minutes of the 2nd fall, but The Rockers are able to make it a 2 on 2 in the ring for a while. In the ensuing chaos, Anvil misses a charge to the corner and it appears to be this which causes the top-rope to break on one side of the ring. The leads to Bret slowing the action down with resthold after resthold as the wrestlers attempt to keep away from the damaged side of the ring. The bout literally treads water for minutes on end until The Hart Foundation even things up with their double-team Hart Attack finisher at the 19 minute mark. In the moments leading up to the final fall, Bret is clearly upset with the way the referee handled things relating to the top-rope incident and a break is taken to re-attach it.

The Harts begin where they left off as Bret looks genuinely annoyed scoring with some stiff European Upper-Cuts to Shawn, before withstanding a Rockers double-team to come out on top of a lazy looking running of the ropes. This results in the champs isolating Marty to their advantage. They then set up the Hart Attack, but Shawn drop-kicks Jannetty on to The Anvil for the decisive pinfall after 24 minutes. I think Bret must have known this match could end up a Shawn Michaels DVD some time in the future as he was predominantly to blame for this bout not reaching its potential. Bret was most put off by the broken rope & then seemed rather uninterested during the final fall. It is a shame as the 1st fall was very good and there were glimpses of what these 4 guys could do scattered elsewhere. Overall though, this was only fairly good and nothing to write home about. Match Rating… 7

THE ROCKERS vs THE ORIENT EXPRESS (WWF Royal Rumble. January 19, 1991): The Mr Fuji-managed Orient Express were made up of Pat Tanaka & Kato, who attacked the faces before the bell while The Rockers were playing to the crowd. But it isn’t long until The Rockers were double-teaming their way to control with stereo suicide dives appearing early. Strangely, Marty heads for headlock city very early, but the resultant counters & reversals that occur are impressively crisp & entertaining. Similar action occurs no matter which duo is opposed, with another early highlight being Tanaka’s sensational looking flying chop during a running of the ropes. HBK has a sleeper-hold broken up by a double-teaming & the heels take control for a moment before HBK pulls out a moonsault from nowhere. The Rockers then dazzle the crowd with a double drop-kick & then hit stereo cross body-blocks from the top-rope to the floor! A nice underhanded double-team move to block a HBK monkey-flip shifts the momentum once more as Fuji’s cane even makes a cameo.

A heel resthold follows for far too long, before Shawn answers the crowd and is able to withstand the onslaught with an excellent counter to a belt-assisted double-team that sees The Orient Express knock heads. The hot tag to Jannetty follows & seemingly everyone in the arena lose their voice as Marty cleans house with slams, drop-kicks & a power-slam for a 2 count. The 2 faces then super-kick Kato and are able to withstand a heel comeback by finishing things off at the 19 minute mark with a perfectly executed slingshot sunset-flip. This was a fantastic bout that is one of those often forgotten pay-per-view openers which is worthy of being a main-event match. Everything was just so darn crisp & natural here, with many moves looking rather realistic as the heels impressed just as much as the faces. The live crowd should also be praised as they overcame the occasional slow patches in this bout that was probably 2-3 minutes overlong. Ultimately, this was very impressive. Match Rating… 9

SHAWN MICHAELS vs THE BRITISH BULLDOG (WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event. November 8, 1992): This was the match where HBK won the InterContinental Title fpr the very first time. Davey Boy shows his greater strength in the opening minutes as he first dead-lifts out of HBK’s arm-bar attempt, then press-slams him and finally clotheslines Shaw to the outside. Michaels attempts to quicken things up, but he continuously gets out-muscled by The Bulldog until sending the IC Champ to ringside & sneakily loosening a turnbuckle pad. The heel challenger then strikes with knees to the back before locking in an abdominal stretch twice.

The finishing sequence then sees Bulldog get 2 counts off of an impressive offensive flurry that has the crowd in raptures, but HBK Irish-whips Davey Boy into the exposed turnbuckle. A subsequent superplex attempt by the British champion sees his back collapse & HBK falls on top of Bulldog from the top-rope for the pinfall victory after 11 minutes (excluding commercial time). Pretty much a prototypical spotlighted television match that was very good, but saw neither man able to combine the storyline of the bout with their talent due to the short duration. A few too many slow spots existed here, while the finish almost seemed anti-climactic, if not necessarily predictable. This would have been better placed on that year’s Survivor Series card with some extra minutes, but Vince obviously wanted to see Bret vs Shawn that soon. Match Rating… 7

1995 ROYAL RUMBLE (WWF. January 27, 1995): It is super important to note that the intervals of entry in this particular Rumble were only one minute each. That is important as HBK is the very first entrant here & ‘The British Bulldog’ Davey Boy Smith is #2. Michaels attacks before the bell, but the Bulldog is too strong & has the better of the opening minute. Various jobbers… & Doink The Clown… follow every minute, with Rick Martel entering 10th and only one wrestler being eliminated when he gets in the ring. Owen Hart is then scheduled to enter at #11, but his brother Bret attacks him before he has a chance to, and he gets immediately eliminated upon entry into the squared circle. This kick-starts a succession of eliminations that leave only HBK & Bulldog in the ring! King Kong Bundy & Mabel then enter 15th & 17th respectively to add a whole lot of beef to this Rumble, with Mabel coming out on top. The big fella & The Bulldog then target HBK, but Lex Luger makes the save & eliminates Mabel.

The best gimmick of all time (not really folks) Mantaur then enters at #20 with a whole bunch of tag-team wrestlers following that (includes the likes of The Smoking Gunns & Henry Goodwin). Bob Backlund is entrant #25, but he also falls victim to a Bret Hart attack. By the way, Bret was angry at interference from both Owen & Backlund earlier in the night during his WWF Championship match against Diesel. Anyway, more jobbers enter with Adam Bomb, Fatu (aka Rikishi) & Crush being the last 3 to hit the ring. The eliminations then come slowly & painfully, with the eventual final 4 being HBK, Bulldog, Luger & Crush. Luger is first to go as Michaels blindsides him and then makes a deal to double-team Bulldog. Crush backstabs him though, but is soon eliminated by a Bulldog clothesline that was meant for Shawn!

This leaves the #1 & #2 entrants into the Rumble as the final 2 participants remaining! Bulldog thinks he has it won quickly (with his entrance theme even playing) when he clotheslines Michaels over the top-rope. But it seems that only one of HBK’s feet touched the floor (a fact later backed up on replay) & Shawn soon re-enters the ring to knock a celebrating Davey Boy off of the top-rope for the Rumble victory following 38 minutes of action. While Rumbles are always fun to watch and this was no exception, it was pretty much purely for nostalgic reasons here. Many of the participants were nothing more than 2nd rate tag-team wrestlers, while there were very few built-in storylines apart from the obvious Shawn/Bulldog one, as well as the 2 Bret Hart attacks. The fact that the intervals of entry had been shortened definitely did not help that last weakness and also didn’t allow too much to occur that wasn’t so chaotic that it was almost indefinable. I will be nice with the rating though just because Rumbles are simply so fun to watch back in the future. Match Rating… 7.5

DESSERT – HBK’s Retirement

Just in case this gets confusing, this is NOT part of the ‘Heartbreak & Triumph’ DVD Review above. I will be back next week with the final part of that DVD Review, but just thought I would include something different for your reading pleasure in today’s column

Over the past couple of months I have actually had a variation of the same question asked of me during feedback sent to me via email. The question would be something similar to: Do you think Shawn Michaels’ recent habit of taking weeks and/or months away from WWE programming is a hint that he may be winding his career down and he could actually retire some time in 2009, possibly at WrestleMania 25…???

It is a decent question and one which could be seen as fact when looking at it from one perspective. But I actually look at it from completely the opposite direction. Similarly to what The Undertaker has been doing over the past couple of years, I see HBK’s regular breaks as a sign that he is not contemplating retirement any time soon. He is simply giving his body the sufficient time to heal for one reason and one reason alone; To prolong his career.

Yes folks, I actually feel that we could still be seeing Shawn Michaels hamming it up in the squared circle come WrestleMania 30! While that may seem like it is pushing it a little (and it probably is), it would not surprise me at all to see HBK going out on a big note at the 30th anniversary of the event that he has made such a huge splash at over his 20+ year career.

The only thing which may impede Shawn Michaels’ progress to such a large-scale retirement are genuine injuries. His recent arm muscle example is exactly the kind of injury which could derail him as it predominantly comes about due to wear & tear, while meaning a significant layoff from the ring. A succession of similar types of injuries may end in HBK reading the writing on the wall somewhere along the line and calling it quits.

The positive in all this is that I now think that Vince McMahon knows exactly how important Shawn Michaels is to his product. Always reliable and still able to perform a top quality match no matter who is standing opposite to him in the ring, Vince will want this safety net around in his company for as long as practically possible. It is a not so dissimilar situation with The Undertaker, who simply always gets a great crowd reaction and puts bums in seats. Because of this, McMahon will be more open to allowing Shawn Michaels the schedule he requires to prolong his career as best as possible.

And so he should too. Some, including myself, already consider HBK to be the greatest professional wrestler of all time. Add another 5 or so years of wrestling at the current high standard that he is to his legacy and he may well have just won over a further significant percentage. That is befitting someone who has remained so loyal to WWE and fought back from so much adversity.

Ok, so there is part-1 of the HBK DVD review out of the way. If I can, may I ask you to hold back any feedback regarding it until after my next column. This may actually give me a little time to complete my pending emails from columns past that I am still behind on. Just in case you cannot wait, my e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com, but if you are an LOP Forums member, it would be much appreciated if you could leave feedback on my thread at http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=159

In all honesty, I have yet to view the 3rd disc of the HBK DVD set and with a busy weekend upcoming, I will probably have to take next Wednesday off from column-writing so that I can complete my review come the 1st of October. By that time, I will also have another pay-per-view to predict. So my column will be posted at the same Wednesday time on the same LOP channel in a fortnight’s time. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.

And remember that DaveyBoy’s Album Reviews can be viewed at: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/user_reviews.php?memberid=268913

Racism in Wrestling

With professional wrestling developed in the South one can see how Black wrestlers have had to work harder then any wrestler to make a name for themselves. With the last boost of colour in the WWE being the Nation of Domination we are seeing a new boost with coloured wrestlers in the WWE, but is it for the wrong reason?

With Michael Hayes under a watchful eye after expressing negative comments to Mark Henry we see Henry as a Champion on ECW. Now understandably ECW is not a primary interest to the WWE as it has been treated like a watered down version of the original ECW. Along with Henry as Champion which is preposterous a new comer known as Kofi Kingston was drafted to Raw and claimed the Intercontinental Title from Chris Jericho in his first week on Raw. Both Kofi and Henry won their titles on the same night. With the zero build up to this title change only a few weeks later Shelton Benjamin claimed the United States title from Matt Hardy. Shelton was the last black wrestler to claim a title; however, he isn’t going to be the last with Cryme Time back in the game.

Yes everyone remembers Crime Tyme, the team who was fired from the WWE, no? Well a little refresher will help. In the late winter Cryme Tyme was working a program with Lance Cade & Trevor Murdock. During one house show Cryme Tyme was told to not performer their finishers to Cade & Murdock. However, with the tension between these four men at a high the warning from management fell on def ears. Both members of Cryme Tyme performed their finishers on their opponents then took the Tag-Team Titles and tossed them into the crowd leading them to an immediate termination.

Now with Cryme Tyme back on Raw working a program with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiasi Jr how long until the WWE feels the heat is off and the WWE goes without a black champion even in the low category such as the ECW Championship.

So the question is still up in the air. Should the WWE be praised or cursed for having so many black champions at once. Personally I don’t see what Mark Henry is doing with a title; he is barley a wrestler let alone a champion. As for Kofi Kingston beating Jericho and Shelton Benjamin beating Matt Hardy both of which were none built up title matches it seems that the WWE is giving away the titles that they lost respect for a long time ago. The main point is that even though black wrestlers are getting titles they aren’t getting the air time that white wrestlers are getting.   

Written By: Lord Gonzo of Shop WWE.net

WWE News: An Update On Chuck Palumbo, The Brian Kendrick, Cena & McCarthy Promoting SNME

– Since being drafted to Raw, Chuck Palumbo still has yet to make a television appearance on his new brand. Reader Ronzilla sent in the following regarding his encounter with Palumbo at last week’s Raw at the Mohegan Sun… First off I am a HUGE fan of Lordsofpain and I have been for years. I check it religiously everyday. My girlfriend makes fun of me lol.. Anyway I was at Mohegan Sun on Monday and I met Chuck Palumbo. He was shopping with his son ( i belive it was his son ) in a music shop and I got a chance to talk to him. He said he hasn’t been on raw because he has been having nagging shoulder injuries and his knee has been bothering him.. I told him that I enjoyed the stuff he did with Jamie Noble and he didn’t seem like he was too pleased with how it came about.. He said “It’s all politics.. That’s all it is..” Referring to his angle with Jamie Noble. I told him that I heard about Noble and HHH/HBK being friends backstage ( I read it off of your site of course ) so it looks to be true.. Anyway Chuck was a really nice guy and HUGE in person. Just some info thought you guys might like to know!! peace out, RONZILLA.

– SmackDown star Brian Kendrick is now going under the name “The Brian Kendrick”. WWE.com changed his profile to reflect his new ring name. You can see the updated profile at this link.

– John Cena & actress Jenny McCarthy did media this past week to promote tonight’s Saturday Night’s Main Event telecast, as well as Generation Rescue, to inform and raise money to combat Autism. The two appeared on Extra, Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood last night. They also appeared on Fox & Friends on the Fox News Channel this morning.

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Lesnar On Possibly Returning To Wrestling, Hogan On TV, 61-Year-Old Former WWE Star Returning To The Ring

– Maria Menounos recently conducted an interview with Hulk Hogan for Access Hollywood to talk about his recent problems. Part one of the interview aired on last night’s show and Hogan said he does miss ex-wife Linda. He said it was completely Linda’s decision to divorce from him. He questioned people who questioned the divorce because they were getting sued from the Grazianos, saying they must be really good actors when Linda’s 19-year-old boyfriend is living in his Clearwater mansion, and using his stuff. Part two of the interview will air on Monday, and Hogan will talk about daughter Brooke possibly posing for Playboy.

– The Ottawa Sun has a story on former WWE star Bushwhacker Luke. The article says the 61-year-old is back wrestling after six years as a talent coordinator for the IWA promotion in Puerto Rico. “I still pass through airports and people ask if I’m the guy who pumps his arms and licks heads,” Luke says. “I was on a legends tour when a guy came over to the table where I was signing autographs and called me a dinosaur. I decided to put my boots back on.” {Legend back bushwhacking}

– TwinCities.com has an article on Brock Lesnar, and he said he wouldn’t rule out a possible return to the ring one day. However, he said it would take a lot of money to entice him to return. “They would have to pay me big to come back,” Lesnar told TwinCities.com. “This (mixed martial arts) pays good, and I’m home every night… Pro wrestling was just brutally grinding on my body. No nights off, a different city every night, a different airplane. And if I got injured, I had to be on TV the next day.” You can read the article at this link.

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WWE News: WWE Lies In “Did You Know?”, Flair DVD Knocked From Top Billboard Spot, Tuesday’s ECW Rating

– This past Monday night on Raw in their weekly “Did You Know?” bumper, WWE proclaimed that last week’s edition of Raw was the most watched show on cable television on Monday night (July 21, 2008). The bumper read: “RAW was the most watched show last Monday on cable television.” You can see a graphic of the bumper at this link. However, according to this article the Associated Press put out this week regarding the cable ratings for July 21-27, TNT’s The Closer was the most watched show on cable for the week. The Closerwas watched in 5.32 million homes and by a total of 7.06 million viewers. The Closer aired on Monday, July 21, the same night that “RAW was the most watched show” on cable television according to WWE. According to the Associated Press, the 10 p.m. airing of the 7/21 Raw finished in seventh place for the week, drawing 3.34 million homes & 4.96 million viewers, far below The Closer‘s 5.32 million homes & 7.06 million viewers figure. The 9 p.m. airing of Raw was watched by 3.06 million homes & 4.49 million viewers, finishing in thirteenth place for the week. Additionally, the 10 p.m. airing of the 7/21 Raw got beat out by a second cable show that Monday night. TNT’s Saving Grace finished in third place for the week. The second hour of Raw drew more viewers (4.96 million viewers to 4.57 million viewers), but Saving Grace was watched in more homes (3.50 million homes to 3.34 million homes). As a result, Saving Grace finished ahead of the second hour of Raw for the week.

– WWE’s Nature Boy Ric Flair: The Definitive Collection DVD set was knocked from the top spot on the Video Sales – Recreational Sports DVD chart on Billboard.com by the NBA Champions 2007-2008: Boston Celtics DVD in its first week out. The Flair DVD finished in second place for the week. You can see the complete chart at this link. This is the first WWE DVD to get beat out in the top spot of Billboard’s Recreational Sports DVD chart in quite a while. Just last week on the 7/22 edition of ECW, WWE ran a bumper saying that WWE outsells MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, college sports, and NASCAR in the sports DVD category.

– Tuesday’s edition of ECW drew a 1.4 cable rating, reports www.f4wonline.com. This number is down from a year-high rating of 1.5 last week.

WWE News: Jericho Answers Fans’ Questions, Announcers Switch Questioned, Matt Striker’s Move To Raw

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

– There was a lot second-guessing going on behind the scenes regarding the announcers switch. Most everyone immediately second-guessed the moves, but also felt Jim Ross ensured things by what he wrote on his website.

– Matt Striker was moved to Raw because there is a lot more interview time on the brand compared to ECW and he’ll be much more useful there. He could be used as a manager for some guy in developmental that gets called up, or used like Santino Marella as a guy that gets a lot of interview time but whose main role is to put over the mid-level babyfaces of Raw.

– SLAM! Wrestling has a feature on Chris Jericho answering questions from fans. It was conducted two weeks ago, hours before the draft. A fan asked Jericho if he turned heel due to Randy Orton’s sudden injury. Jericho said, “This turn was in place long before Orton got hurt, there was nothing quick about it. If you look back we started this in April, it has been two months. All these things were happening with or without Orton’s injury. Obviously it opens a huge hole with Randy being hurt, so in that case it is beneficial for me, but it wasn’t like anything was rushed, it was an unfortunate thing that happened and things went on business as usual for Jericho.” He’s also asked if the writers script his promos. Jericho said, “I always had creative freedom with my promos, so it has been the same all across the board. I have never been a guy who is given a piece of paper and told to read this. I have co-written all of my promos if not written them outright from when I first came in to the WWE to the promo I did last week.” He also answers questions on how the WWE locker room is now compared to his first run, his association with Lance Cade, if he’s ever going to bring his wild costumes back, the Iron Sheik (“It is a sad thing that guys from that generation spent spent spent and didn’t have anything left on the back end. Sheik has to make $500 here and there acting crazy to try and keep himself alive. I just think it is sad that people take advantage of the fact that he obviously has substance issues and they would rather exploit that than try to actually help the guy.”), why he left WWE in 2005, and more. {“Chris Jericho answers your questions” article}

– Jim Ross has posted a blog on the WWE Fan Nation site saying everything is good on SmackDown. He also talks about WWE producing new stars. Ross wrote: “Producing new stars and adding to the established stars fans normally see in PPV main events is an all important function as fans want to see “new”…new wrestlers and new matches. New is good even if new turns out to not be so great bouts, if you know what I mean. At least it is “new” and no one really knows what is going to click with today’s fans until it is tried.” {Jim Ross blog link}